This move will give these important programs a stronger Washington presence at a time when policymakers are searching for alternatives to the U.S. government's discredited policies in Latin America and elsewhere. The Americas Program will continue to offer timely policy analysis, North-South dialogue, and in-depth reports on key issues of the hemisphere through weekly publications by its experienced staff and regional network of policy experts.

The International Relations Center was founded in 1979 with the goal of making the United States a more responsible member of the international community. The Foreign Policy In Focus program, previously a joint project between the IRC and the Institute for Policy Studies, will became the sole responsibility of IPS on June 1, 2008.

Tom Barry, cofounder of the International Relations Center and founder of FPIF, works with the Americas Program from Silver City, New Mexico. Laura Carlsen will continue to direct the Americas program from its office in Mexico City, Mexico.

As part of the Center for International Policy, the Americas Program and the Global Good Neighbor Initiative will continue to provide research and analysis to citizen activists, academics, and policymakers.

Right Web is now a program of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) that monitors U.S. organizations and individuals -- both in and out of government – that promote militarist foreign and defense policies, with a special focus on the “war on terror” and the Middle East. Right Web aims to foster informed public debate about these policies with feature articles and profiles of individuals and organizations that examine political discourses and institutional allegiances over timeEfforts to push militaristic policies cross party lines, and so Right Web examines individuals and organizations across the political spectrum, as well as “nonpartisan” political actors. Reporters, researchers, and analysts have come to rely on Right Web for its well-documented research and analysis.

Originally founded by the International Relations Center (IRC) in 2003, Right Web represented a revival of an earlier IRC program called GroupWatch (1985-1991), which profiled more than 125 private, quasi-governmental, and religious organizations that were closely associated with the implementation of U.S. foreign policy in the 1980s, especially in Central America. PRA took over Right Web in 2008 after IRC closed its doors.

Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) is a "Think Tank Without Walls" connecting the research and action of more than 600 scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the United States a more responsible global partner. Formerly a joint project of the IRC and the Institute for Policy Studies, FPIF is now solely a project of IPS.

FPIF provides timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs and recommends policy alternatives. FPIF publishes commentaries, briefs, and reports on its website www.fpif.org and organizes briefings for the public, media, lawmakers, and legislative staff. Staff and other FPIF experts also write for newspapers, magazines, and other online publications and author books on foreign policy and international affairs. FPIF experts speak frequently on television and radio programs and are often quoted by print and online journalists.